Syracuse, NY -- The days of Danny Brennan are over for the Syracuse University lacrosse team, at least for the time being.

Three years ago Brennan dominated the faceoff X for the Orange, winning two out of every three draws he took to play a pivotal role in helping SU go from 5-8 in 2007 to the national championship in 2008. When he departed there was no protégé ready to step in and take his place, and none has surfaced since.

Instead, the Orange has adopted a faceoff by committee strategy and will likely employ it when Denver visits the Carrier Dome at 1 p.m. Sunday (Time Warner) to open the 2011 season.

“Faceoffs are a funny thing,” SU coach John Desko said, “because different players will do better against different kinds of faceoff people, so it really depends a little bit more on what you’re going against.”

Syracuse employed six players at the faceoff X at one time or another last season, although Gavin Jenkinson and Jeremy Thompson took the bulk of them. Jenkinson, who won a solid 57 percent of his draws and took more than anyone on the team, graduated.
Thompson, who won 58.2 percent of his draws last season and is also a first line midfielder, is back. The senior’s ability to take faceoffs is a bonus, as he is a dangerous offensive asset once he gains possession.

“If Thompson gets out there and he can create some offense and win some faceoffs we’ll certainly go with that, because it’s a double-edged sword,” Desko said. “Not only do we win the ball, but at the offensive end we’re a threat to score. That creates matchup problems for the other team’s faceoff guy.”

The Orange will need someone to replace Jenkinson and spell Thompson when he tires or runs into a foe who has his number, and three main candidates have emerged – true freshmen Chris Daddio (5-foot-10, 191 pounds) and Ricky Buhr (5-8, 187) and senior Josh Knight (6-0, 206). When Syracuse is a man down and a draw is required it will likely turn to senior Tim Harder, a defensive midfielder who can stay on the field if he loses the draw and not be a defensive liability.

“Our guys don’t dominate in practice against one another,” Desko said, “and really the freshmen did a good job in that, too, so we’ll see.”

Daddio said a change in the rules this season – a seemingly annual occurrence as the NCAA tries to eliminate the rampant cheating that has gone on at the X seemingly forever – has helped propel him into the mix. Officials are now required to say “down, set” and then blow the whistle anywhere from a half to two seconds later. They are supposed to stagger the time to prevent players from anticipating the whistle and jumping the gun.

“That’s the way it was for me in high school,” Daddio, a Virginia native, said. “It made it a lot easier for me. A lot of kids were jumping in fall ball, and I was kind of used to that.”

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardSenior Josh Knight of the Syracuse University lacrosse team learned the tricks of the trade from former SU star Danny Brennan.

Daddio was good enough in the fall to be the Orange’s second choice behind Thompson in its preseason scrimmages, although he admitted it has been a big jump from high school to Division I lacrosse.

“It’s definitely a lot different,” he said. “The kids are a lot stronger and faster, and they throw a lot of different moves at you.”

Buhr appeared to be fourth in the pecking order during the scrimmages but was SU’s most effective faceoff specialist overall and likely has played himself into the mix. His 5-for-7 performance in the fourth quarter Feb. 10 helped the Orange outscore Maryland 4-2 in the period and win 11-9.

That leaves Knight, the lone remaining player on the roster who had the benefit of going against Brennan in practice and being coached for four years by SU assistant Kevin Donahue, the faceoff guru. Once considered the prime candidate to replace Brennan, Knight instead has spent most of the last two seasons on the sideline struggling with injuries.

“It’s been frustrating,” Knight said, “but I thought about it over break and just ran a lot and trained a lot and figured I’ve got one more year at it, so I might as well go all out and just have some fun. It’s going really well. I’m having a blast so far.”

Knight, a former high school football player, has a style that most resembles Brennan’s – more strength than finesse. He also picked up a bunch of pointers from Brennan and now is trying to pass them along to his younger teammates.

“Just the experience of playing with him (Brennan) and four years of Coach Donahue, you can’t really take that away,” Knight said. “I’m trying to pass on that experience to the young guys while at the same time I’m giving it my all every day.”

It should be enough to get him on the faceoff committee, which is the way the Orange will tackle one of the game’s most critical facets this season.